Steven Isserlis-Bach Suite for Solo Cello No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011
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- Опубліковано 14 лип 2019
- Steven Isserlis performs Bach Suite for Solo Cello No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011
Steven Isserlis, cello
Suite for Solo Cello No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011 composed circa 1720
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
-
Prélude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Gavotte I - Gavotte II
Gigue
Performed at 92nd Street Y on April 28, 2018.
Program note by Steven Isserlis © 2018:
The existence of Bach’s six suites for cello remains something of a sacred mystery. We do not know exactly when he wrote them, nor why, nor for whom. We have no idea whether he wrote them all within the same period, or whether they were written at different times. We think, at least, that we can date all the suites fairly confidently to the early 1720s, though no more precisely than that. From 1717-23 Bach held the post of Kappellmeister at the court of Prince Leopold at Cöthen. This was the only period of his professional life during which he had a virtuoso chamber ensemble, but no choir, at his disposal; therefore, many of his instrumental works - including the Brandenburg Concertos, the partitas and sonatas for violin and almost certainly the cello suites - date from these years. A distinguished gamba player and cellist, C. F. Abel, worked at the court, as did a cellist named Linigke. It is certainly possible that Bach wrote the suites for one of them; but it is also possible that - fascinated by the potential of the cello, now emerging as a replacement for the gamba - he wrote them just for himself, to fulfill a need to branch out in yet another new direction. At any rate, the suites - seemingly the earliest works written for solo cello in Germany - exploit the potential of the cello more fully and more satisfyingly than any work since. And like many mysterious works of art whose genesis remains unexplained, they retain the aura of a miracle.
Might there be something programmatic behind the suites? Impossible to know, but I have an instinctive feeling that there is. Needless to say, there is no real necessity to provide an extra-musical idea in regard to music that is so perfect, so complete in itself; but that does not preclude the possibility that there is one. Perhaps I’m completely wrong, and Baching up the wrong tree; but for me the suites are “Mystery Sonatas,” a telling of the life of Christ in abstract music. They are of course also - primarily, in fact - dance suites; but there is no contradiction there. Biber’s Mystery Sonatas (could Bach have known them?) are also full of dance movements; and one only has to think of the Siciliano rhythm of the heartbreaking violin obbligato opening to “Erbarme Dich” in the St Matthew Passion to realize that for Bach, man worships God with the body as much as with the mind and heart. If they are indeed Mystery Sonatas, then the suites would be comprised of two sets of three: two Joyful Mysteries (Nos. 1 and 4), two Sorrowful Mysteries (Nos. 2 and 5) and two Glorious Mysteries (Nos. 3 and 6).
At any rate, I find it impossible not to think of the story of the Crucifixion in connection with the fifth suite. This is the most darkly dramatic of the six suites - and the closest in spirit to Bach’s two monumental settings of the Passion story. The arresting narrative of the opening leads to the only fugue within the suites (albeit only an implied fugue, since there is never more than one voice heard at any time), the whole Prelude ending with a powerful “tierce de Picardie” - a concluding transformation from minor to major mode - which feels like a statement of faith. The tragic atmosphere of the suite reaches its emotional peak in the desolate loneliness of the famous Sarabande. What an extraordinary movement this is: no discernible melody as such, no particular rhythmic interest, no obvious dynamic changes, no chords - and yet, one of the most powerful pieces of music ever composed.
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0:00 Prelude
5:48 Allemande
11:17 Courante
13:12 Sarabande
16:50 Gavottes
21:18 Gigue
OMG THANK YOU👍 I really needed this for my essay about him😅
Bravo! I am a 79 year old person in my third year of cello playing. You are such an inspiration for me! My teacher suggested I see you play this piece as I am in the process of figuring out how to breath as I play!
This is the absolute perfection in technique, musicality and soul.
Its unbelievable how exquisite Isselis left hand is shaping every note. His bowing technique is the best I've ever seen. So relaxed and controlled. He almost caresses the strings.
Just back for my daily listen.
Can't get enough of this. Steven you blow me away. You are so "inside" the music.
Wow. BRAVO indeed! Its been a long time since I've listened to a full Bach suite in its entirety without distraction... this is otherworldly!!!!!!!!
His legato in 2nd Gavotte is absolutely perfect
Wow, this is really fantastic! He has such tonal variation and range. I must buy some of his work and hear it on high-end equipment.
I love this performance! Isserlis is one of the greats!
Oh WOW! So amazing! A truly beautiful rendition.
He’s so fresh!! Amazing, love him
Breathtaking playing! Pure emotion - pure Bach ..
I watched this whole performance until the very end, and didn’t even realized he had played the whole thing without the scordatura until I rewatched. Sounded incredible
I realized there was no scordatura in the first 20 sec, because I am playing this piece right now haha
Idk why most people don’t play with the scordatura
@@SeaRasp Tuning a string down destabilizes the instrument and throws the entire tuning off for quite some time. It is advised to either have a separate cello tuned in scordatura before hand or use the normal tuning if you're playing this suite with others in tow.
Oliviu-Dorian Constantinescu I’ve always played it with scordatura and have never had a tuning issue
@@SeaRasp You are lucky! I wonder if the same can be said for gut strings, like what Mr. Isserlsis is using.
La versión más impactante y sentida que he escuchado!!! Me impresiona la conducción de la melodía, le resonancia de los bajos que soportan armónicamente las notas cortas y de paso. Un discurso musical perfecto y acogedor!!!
Gorgeous, elegant, powerful, mysterious, human. Bravo⚡️✨
Indeed the beauty of desolate loneliness in Sarabande!
Steven isserlis um violoncelista extraordinário, uma lenda viva tocando.
Thank you very much for posting.
OMG what fucking skill !!!
Phenominal. Simply phenominal. And his face is just so damn evocative.
Sublime!
Pablo would be proud of your interpretation and phrasing and I'm sure Mr. Ma appreciates the freedom/passion you bring to the piece. Inbal also plays with a similar passion but my friend you are unique and share a beautifully complex yet well executed version/interpretation of this suite. I have to believe Bach would be proud of your efforts as I am sure many in the cello community are. Well done, indeed!
He's "all in." I love it.
Sublime
That Sarabande is spellbinding.
Bravooo 👋👋👋
Wunderbar.
I particularly enjoyed the learned comments of posters who play the cello and the barbed comments of posters who dislike Isserlis's style and voice and who apparently proceed from the HIP contingent of musicians who insist on period purity (whatever that might mean, as period performance BPM and performance practices are often surmised), seemingly deploring the notion that each generation will explore its own approach to period classics. Presume there's a literature on "cello wars" that might be consulted in these matters...but I'm generally just a listener.
I never press stop keyboard all though during this play~~~!!! (From start to the end)
I cannot move at all~~Just wonderful ~~!!!
wahouu this is a top performance!
18:50 hypnotic
Wonderful
13:39 that cof
Isserlis is my teachers teacher. Threy both use gut strings. So barouk of them :)
Also Lynn Harrell used gut. I have tried gut. Steel is harder.
Good job Steven :)
Who is your teacher? I learned with the same teacher as Steven.
Yay
💞🌿🌾
Bach was a prophet
5:40
Such an epic interpretation, sounds like a rock star on an electric cello
i am so used to the Fournier classic, and Anner Bylsma, i may need time to adjust to Isseris' version. Lovely tone for starters. But it feels fast to my ignorant taste...time.
Man of My dreams
Man of my draems awesom !!
Why sometimes he does a left hand Pizz while playing with the bow ? 🤔🤔🤔
The instances when he plays open strings? Notes played on an open string can have a slower response, opposed to stopped notes. Hence, some players pluck their open strings just before or at the same time they start to draw the bow, making it easier to articulate the string.
LittleHarryBrother1 oh ok thanks !!
No problem. However, I forgot to say: If you are a cellist, I wouldn’t recommend you to incorporate this habit into your technique! Although it seems to make sense, since very accomplished cellists do so themselves, it shouldn’t be necessary to do so with a proper bowing technique. Incorporating this pizz technique may very well get in the way of developing your technique(as was my case). There are however a few instances in the repertoire where it actually is justified to use this technique, but they are quite rare.
LittleHarryBrother1 No worries, I’m a violinist!
Thx you 2, was interesting !
다닐샤프란의 해석과 비슷하네요. 그런데 샤프란 라이브연주가 더욱더 완벽하다고 생각해요.
Thank you. J. S. Dvorak...
Didn't know Steven Pinker could play cello.
Счёт не пробовали ребята сделать, смычок и так сам сыграет, а мозги Бах не вставит свои... Сошли с ума, махать по струнам мимо записи, ужас...
No scodratura..?🤔 otherwise brilliant
there are many great cellist in this world,but only two are real artist,only two!! they are same carzy but in differenz way, they have both inhuman bow technique that nobody can imitate;they are same extremly and with same hairstyle,their name is Mischa Maisky and Steven Isserlis,~~~
Maisky neither has inhuman bow technique nor could he ever reach the mastery of Isserlis.
Not my favorite tough, I find it too romantic and sometimes too much vibrato, but very good played anyway.
Interesting is that he plays Haydn more elegant and "baroque" than Bach. 🤔
Alas, influence from Casals probably. I don't mind vibrato in Bach, but this just sounds sloppy with his articulations, lack of dynamic range (partly due to mediocre acoustics of room), and rhythmic flucts owuations. Go listen to Maisky who has a glorious rendition from the 1990s documentary recording who uses vibrato in a fantastic manner. Isserlis has ironically detached himself from his former favorite cellist Danill Shafran who is often criticized for sacrificing the intentions of the music for his own voice. It's ironic because Isserlis is also obsessed with his 'voice', having a characteristic hybrid gut sound and vibrato character, more than playing the music in a pure manner.
@@s.l5787I know the first Bach recording of Maisky and I never liked it, not then and not now.
I still prefer Byslma (first recording) or Wispelwey (first recording I think, he recorded it so many times!) on barroque cello or H. Schiff on modern for the Bach suites. Never liked Isserlis recording of the suites, even though that recording is better than this video.
@@mosaiques23 Byslma messes with the rhythm way too much, you get 0 understanding of Bach's structure. Heinrich Schiff has probably the best sound projection of any cellist in the recording, not to mention clarity. But much of the detached articulations - like many 'historically informed' playing - ruins the vocally conceived lines that Bach has. Just compare the D major prelude between Maisky and Schiff (although Schiff has the best bowing for the improvisatory sequence near the end). The D Major allemande sounds ridiculous by Schiff because he interprets it too literally like a dance movement. Jian Wang plays better than both in the D major. Wispelwey loves his articulations too much, he also lacks that crucial rhythmic consistency and dynamic range the music demands. It's ironic given that it's a fact most Baroque music depends on stable rhythm (outside the obvious toccatas). Not to sound too disrespectful, I do find many of his articulations are ingenious but the lack of dynamic range especially kills the enjoyment.
@@s.l5787 Sorry, I'm not following you. Are trying to convince me of something? I understand and respect your predilections, but I still have my taste and I stand by it. 😏
@@mosaiques23 Taste is overrated, I don't see how you can possibly understand Bach listening to those 3 interpreters with their horrible dynamic range and rhythm.
Horrible.